Edwin Holt Hughes - The Bible and Life

TO
CHARLES RAISBECK MAGEE

By the courteous invitation of the President, Faculty, and Trustees ofDePauw University, the writer had the privilege of delivering the firstseries of lectures under the foundation as endowed by his friend, the Rev.Marmaduke H. Mendenhall. The following comments are the only introductorywords that need be given.

The terms of the lectures were kept strictly within the radius of reallife. The author does not claim to be a biblical scholar in any technicalsense. Nor did he deem that the primary need of the students whom headdressed would be met by a discussion of theories of inspiration or ofdates and authorships. College students have a passion for reality, andthe most convincing apologetic for them is the argument from actualliving.

Under the instruction of the founder the lectures are to be placed inpermanent form for the students of the University and for the widerpublic. The lecturer having been rewarded by the close attention ofhundreds of youthful hearers, the writer will have a still greater rewardif those who heard the words as spoken in Meharry Hall are joined by thelarger company who will listen for the voice of the Spirit in these pages.

EDWIN HOLT HUGHES.

The late Reverend Marmaduke H. Mendenhall, D.D., of the North IndianaConference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, donated to DePauw Universitythe sum of ten thousand dollars, the purpose and conditions of which giftare set forth in his bequest as follows:

The object of this gift is "to found a perpetual lectureship on theevidences of the Divine Origin of Christianity, to be known as theMendenhall Foundation. The income from this fund shall be used for thesupport of an Annual Lectureship, the design of which shall be theexhibition of the proofs, from all sources, of the Divine Origin,Inspiration, and Authority of the Holy Scriptures. The course of lecturesshall be delivered annually before the University and the public withoutany charge for admission.

"The lecturers shall be chosen by an electing body consisting of thePresident of the University, the five senior members of the Faculty of theCollege of Liberal Arts, and the President of the Board of Trustees,subject to the approval of the Board of Bishops of the MethodistEpiscopal Church. The lecturers must be persons of high and wide repute,of broad and varied scholarship, who firmly adhere to the evangelicalsystem of Christian faith. The selection of lecturers may be made from theworld of Christian scholarship without regard to denominational divisions.Each course of lectures is to be published in book form by an eminentpublishing house and sold at cost to the Faculty and students of theUniversity."

GEORGE R. GROSE, President of DePauw University.

Inasmuch as future lecturers on the Mendenhall Foundation may not have hadthe privilege of personal acquaintance with the founder, it is doubtlessgood that this first volume may record the outlines of his life andcharacter. Marmaduke H. Mendenhall was born at Guilford, North Carolina,May 13, 1836. He died at Union City, Indiana, October 9, 1905. He was theson of Himelius and Priscilla Mendenhall, who, when their son was aboutone year old, came northward and settled near Peru, Indiana. DoctorMendenhall did not suggest in manner or bearing that he was Southern born.Had one chosen to judge of his birthplace by the man himself, one wouldhave said that he was a typical son of New England. His deeper self wastypified by his personal appearance. He was tall, stately, dignified,serious, earnest.

He joined the North Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Churchin 1856. Those days were still pioneer, and he entered gladly into thesacrificial ministry of that period. It is a singular coincidence that hewas doubtless the first minister of his faith to begin work near UnionCity, where he closed his earthly labors. It was his privilege, also, tobuild the first Methodist Episcopal church in the city where he died. Thehistory of his ministry shows that he served all classes ofchargescountry, city, village, county seat. Several times the record isdotted with the word "Mission," which would indicate that he frequentlyfollowed the apostolic fashion of building strictly on his ownfoundations. He came to a place of leadership in his own Conference. Tothe day of his death he was an influential factor in all its plans andprograms. Though he had been technically "superannuated" for sixteen yearsprior to his death, his mind kept its full vigor, and his word kept itsfull weight. Twice he was elected a reserve delegate to the GeneralConference, while in 1880 he was chosen as one of the regular delegates.

From the beginning of his ministry Dr. Mendenhall showed the signs of aremarkable mind, and at the end of his ministry he was still manifesting akeen interest in current questions and in theological problems. Hislibrary to the last was freshened by the purchase of new books. When heturned his many volumes over to Gammon Theological Seminary thatinstitution did not receive hundreds of antiquated volumes, but rather acollection brought down to date and selected by a master judgment. Theintellectual, though suffused at times by a proper and restrained emotion,was his noticeable characteristic. He was given to thorough analysis. Hewas markedly painstaking. Records that he made of the conduct of hispublic services indicate that the final details were all regarded, andthat hymns and Scripture lessons were chosen with a view to their bearingon the instruction of the day.

Being a vigorous personality, he held his views with strength. He waskeenly loyal to his convictions, whether these related to methods of workor to statements of doctrine. In his advocacy or in his antagonism he wasalways frank and open. His opponent could see him standing out in plainview, with no effort to protect himself by secrecy. Men could never doubthis sincerity, however much they might question the correctness of hispositions. He knew no sinuous paths. He was as direct as sunlight, and hetraveled in straight lines.

In all his spheres of work Dr. Mendenhall made deep and lastingimpressions. Highly intellectual as he was, he was still an excellentadministrator. His business qualifications were signal. Every mattercommitted to him was cared for with scrupulous nicety. He left no looseends to any of his work. Although his salaries were never large, assalaries are counted to-day, he secured a comfortable property, and thisin spite of the fact that throughout his lifetime he was a generouscontributor to good causes.

He served as a trustee of De Pauw University longer than other member ofhis Conference had served, up to the time of his death. From 1878 to 1887he served in this capacity, while in 1896 he was reelected and was anactive worker on the board up to the end of his life. He aided in pushingthe institution through its crisis. The files of this writer disclose acareful and helpful correspondence upon matters vital to the welfare ofthe University. In the sessions of the board he was always urbane andconciliatory. He crowned the work of his life by leaving to the Universityall of his estate. Upon the increase of the estate to a certain figure,the income was to be used in founding a lectureship on Revealed Religion,especially as related to the Holy Bible.